Mary Mathis, 1853-1929

Today you meet one of my 2nd Great Grandmothers, Mary Mathis.  Mary was born 171 years ago last week, on March 15, 1853.  She was one of 10 known children born to William and Elizabeth Jane (Ussery) Mathis.  The Mathis family was living near Vienna, in Johnson County IL when Mary was born.  Her parents had married there in 1847, both families having moved from Maury County, TN around 1845.  It’s quite possible that’s how Mary’s parents met… their families may have been traveling together!

Mary grew up in Johnson County, IL. No doubt she and her siblings ran wild in the woods near what we now know as the Shawnee National Forest… at least when their chores were done.  Her father was a farmer, so there would have been lots of responsibilities for her.

At the age of 17, she married Smith Rosan.  We have no idea how they met.  Smith was living in Perry County IL.  He had been a widower for a year when he and Mary were married on July 4, 1870.  Mary’s father had been in the Union army from August 1862 to August 1865.  By the 1870 census, William and Elizabeth Mathis were living in Perry County.  It’s not known exactly when they moved to Perry Co, but it was likely after the War.  Perhaps they attended the same church as Smith Rosan, or they were introduced by mutual friends.  

Smith and Mary (Mathis) Rosan, 1870's

Smith and Mary had 11 children.  Only 6 of those grew to be adults.  We know 2 of their children died before they were a year old.  The other three, we don’t even have names for. They also raised another child… their daughter Margaret, at age 16, had a child out of wedlock.  The 1900 census lists the child as a granddaughter, with Margaret married and living just a few houses away.

photo circa 1888... Mary and Smith on the front row with daughter Amanda, back row is Mary's mother and possibly Smith's mother, and daughters Rosie and Margaret

Smith died in 1897, and Mary immediately applied for a widow’s pension for Smith’s service in the Civil War.  She states that she has “one house and lot in the vicinity of the Perry County mines.” In looking at old maps, I believe the Rosans lived just north of St. Johns (which is just north of DuQuoin).  She was initially given $8 per month, then it went up to $12 a month in 1908.  By the end of 1926, Mary was begging the U.S. government for more money.  In her letter, she says… “I really need more money, as I am getting along very poorly.  I don’t have enough to keep me going and paying for my doctor bills and my living expenses.  I am a mother of eleven children and have worked hard all my life and now I am old, and have to have more money. If anything should happen to me, I wouldn’t have enough for expenses.  I am unable to do anything, work of any kind… In the winter, I have asthma and am not able to do much any of the time.  I have to stay with my children and they can’t afford to keep me all the time.”  Two months after she sent that letter, they responded… “I have to advise you that pension at the rate of $30 per month, which it appears you are now receiving, is the highest rate to which you are entitled under existing law.  You could have no title to an increase in your pension to $50 per month, for the reason that you were not the wife of the soldier during the period of his service in the Civil War.”

Reproduction of Smith and Mary's marriage certificate in 1897

Mary spent most of the rest of her life visiting and staying with her children and their families.  She died on December 5, 1929, while she was staying with her daughter Amanda.  She is buried in Tilden IL.  Mary was 76 years old.

Mary Mathis-Rosan, 1908

In the 1970’s, my grandma Flossine’s brother Nolan wrote a family history book.  It was typewritten, and photocopies were given to family members.  I am forever grateful that he did this.  His format was to simply write down his personal memories of each family member… grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.  His page about his grandmother Mary, has personal details that we’d never know any other way.  Here are some to highlight…

1. She was called Granny Rosan.

2. “Whenever it was time for her to come to our house for a while, it was my unfortunate lot to have to sleep with her because we had only two bedrooms.  Even then she was an accomplished snorer and would many times wake me up with her snorts, etc.  All I could think of to do as a child was to pull her hair until she woke up enough to stop snoring long enough for me to get back to sleep.”

3. She was an accomplished knitter.

4. She could weave rugs on her loom.

5. She could not read or write, but eventually learned how to write her name, so she could sign her own pension checks.

6. She chewed tobacco… either the brand “Star” or “Horseshoe”.

7. She smoked tobacco… “She crumbled “Granger Twist” to smoke in her small clay pipe with the bamboo stem.”

8. She had a nervous twitch to one of her eyes that “was embarrassing because it made her appear to be winking at people.  She tried most all the patent medicines and gadgets to try to get rid of it, including a violet ray machine, but nothing was successful.”

9. She was just a little more than 5 feet tall.

Mary's gravestone in Tilden, IL